Itella Oyj and Fujitsu Services Oy have entered into an agreement on a three-year continuation of their partnership in IT infrastructure support services. The agreement will be implemented in accordance with Fujitsu's managed services operating model Patja, incorporating almost 7,000 desktops.

The services cover helpdesk and on-site support services as well as other desktop and server environment related services, such as an AD environment including servers and IT security services.

The Patja service reaches all the countries where Itella has operations, except for Russia. Currently, Itella has operations in the Nordic and the Baltic countries and Germany. It expanded recently also to Poland and aims at further growth.

"We drew up a detailed service plan in the solicitation phase to specify the desired service response times and levels. We also highlighted the importance of mapping out and minimising the risks in service production – and naturally the costs. Of the two final supplier candidates Fujitsu's bid best matched our needs," says Director Marko Savolainen, who is in charge of Itella's ICT Operational Services.

Fujitsu will now also be responsible for the desktop procurement and hardware delivery services for Itella. The volume of the required equipments is massive, as Itella is the second largest corporate employer in Finland, right behind Nokia.

"We wanted to minimise the number of suppliers of hardware services as well as all the other outsourced services. It makes our job much easier having an increasingly deep and wide-ranging collaboration with the familiar partners. It also facilitates the quality and cost management. The former decentralised approach made hardware deliveries slow and complicated. We know Fujitsu since 3,5 years back. It will be easy to embark also on other ICT projects on a solid ground created by a long-standing collaboration," Savolainen says.

About Itella Group

Itella Group provides solutions for managing information and material flows. Itella operates in mail communication, information logistics and logistics. The Group, with operations in ten Northern European countries, reported a turnover of €1,551 million in 2006, employing some 25,000 staff. The Group’s corporate services are delivered under the Itella brand, while the Posti brand is used for services targeted at consumers. More information on the Group is available at www.itella.com/group.

About Fujitsu Services Oy

Fujitsu Services Oy is the leading ICT services supplier in Finland. With its cutting edge ICT service models Patja and Sohva, the company facilitates the day-to-day operations of its customers in Finland and abroad by assuming the overall responsibility for the support services, operation and development of the customers' IT infrastructure and operational applications. Fujitsu's other areas of expertise include mobile work services, electronic services as well as Microsoft, SAP and EMC Documentum based solutions.The Finland based ICT services company Fujitsu's net sales for the financial year that ended in March 2009 amounted to 395 million euros. The company employs nearly 2,700 people in Finland and the Baltic countries. Fujitsu Finland is part of the global Fujitsu Group, one of the largest ICT services providers on a global scale. Our specialist network comprises 175,000 employees in 70 countries. Patja and Sohva are registered trademarks of Fujitsu Services Oy. Read more at: fi.fujitsu.com, www.net-lehti.com.